Sending Up A Signal Flare

I am still alive. The internet at our house has given up the ghost, so I am only able to get online once or twice a week at the library or coffee shop. On these trips I have to race through checking and responding to email, renewing library books (well, recently it has been more along the line of managing fines), and downloading and uploading chapter edits. This doesn't leave time for fun stuff like blogging, playing on Facebook, or reading through homeschool message boards. My publisher also invited me to join Twitter, but I don't think that is going to happen for a bit. It has also made ordering books for next school year a bit difficult.

Being nestled in the woods can be wonderful for the spirit, but it is the death knell to reliable satellite internet service. "All you need is a clear view of the southern sky" the smiling spokeswoman in the satellite ads assures. Guess what we don't have? As soon as the trees leaf, our internet goes POOF! We also live in a weird little hole without access to cable, DSL, or a strong cell signal. Our landlord, who lives on the same property but closer to town, is apparently the end of the line for DSL and cable... or so we thought. Frodo called Comcast the other day in his quarterly attempt to hint that they need to extend the access to our house. Usually, the response is a friendly but curt, "I'm sorry but we don't service your address." This last call was a bit more optomistic... "We can't do just internet, but we can do a phone internet bundle for you. We just have to send a tech down to check things out." Keep your fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I am getting a lot done in my yard, writing up lesson plans for next year, and writing up illustration lists. And maybe in another week or two, I can get back online at home, in my jammies, in the late night hours when the rest of my family is sleeping (well, everyone but Secondo, she's my fellow night owl) and blog to my heart's content. Maybe...